Class: Life Science Unit: Environment- Pond Water Testing Project Topic: Drawing Conclusions & Class Discussion
Lesson Overview:
In this final lesson of the unit, we will be tying all of the previous lessons together. After all the participating classes have submitted their findings to the Project Data area, the students will read the submissions, draw conclusions, and prepare and submit one short Final Report explaining what they have learned from the project. This report will not be long; it’ll be about two paragraphs.
I (the teacher) will also be sending one final report from the whole class to
the project Discussion Area at the completion of this project. Also, Selected Final Reports will be posted in the Student Gallery. We will then have a final class discussion about the unit.
Learning Performances:
After completing this lesson, students will:
Evaluate and modify their own hypotheses
Develop problem-solving, decision-making and inquiry skills reflected by interpreting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating results
Develop an understanding of patterns, relationships, and functions and be able to represent and explain Real-World phenomena
Integrate science as a tool for problem solving in science and as a means of expressing and/or modeling scientific theories
Standards Addressed:
National Science Education Standards:
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an
understanding about scientific inquiry.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an
understanding of population and ecosystems.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of diversity and adaptations of organisms.
As a result of the activities, all students should develop an understanding of change, constancy and measurement.
Rhode Island State Subheadings for Unifying Themes of Science (concepts to be addressed):
Collect Data
Communicate Understanding and Ideas
Design and Conduct Investigations
Represent, Analyze, and Interpret Data
Experimental Design
Observe
Predict
Question and Hypothesize
Use Evidence to Draw Conclusions
Use Tools and Techniques
Materials Needed:
Computers with Internet access (students will be able to use laptops in the classroom)
Notebooks and Pencils
Printable Student Worksheet
Time Required:
One 45-minute class period
INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
Introducing the Lesson:
To begin the lesson, I will remind the students that all the lessons in this unit have been building on each other and that we have finally arrived to our last lesson of the unit. I will then ask what prior knowledge they have about writing Final Reports. At this point, I will expect many of them raise their hands and say something about having written lab reports before for science class. I will also anticipate someone saying something about writing essays and writing book reports. We will then have a quick discussion on Report writing. To visit students’ prior knowledge, we will review the format for report writing.
Instructional Activities:
We will begin the class by checking the Project Data on the project’s website. This way we can compare the types of macroinvertebrates found by the different schools from around the world.
We will then restate our hypothesis. We will have a whole class discussion centering on whether or not the data collected and macroinvertebrates found by the other schools posted in the Project Data section supported or did not support their hypothesis.
I will then break the students into small working groups (3-4 students per group) and ask them to begin writing their final reports. They may choose to do that individually or one report per group. We will review the following main components that should be included in our report:
Introductory Paragraph
➢ Name and location of our school as well as the grade and subject area. It will also include a description of where we conducted the water sampling tests (students will include all the information that they wrote from the General Observations).
Main Body
➢ Name, location, and a description of where we conducted the water sampling tests (students will also include all the information they wrote for the General Observations). ➢ Water sampling tests that we conducted ➢ Our original hypothesis
Conclusions
➢ Did our findings prove or disprove our hypothesis? List the reasons. ➢ How did the types of organisms we found compare with those found by others? ➢ What conclusions did we draw? ➢ How did the new information change your thinking?
Additional questions to consider
➢ What was something new that you learned? ➢ What would you do differently next time?
Finally, as a whole class, we will submit our Final Report to the Final Reports conference area of the Discussion Area.
Concluding the Lesson:
To conclude the lesson, I will ask all the students to gather around and we will have a casual class discussion of this whole project. Students will be encouraged to offer their honest opinions about this unit. I will be very supportive of everyone’s opinions and thoughts on this project. My goal for leading this kind of discussion is to give every student an opportunity to express his or her likes and dislikes about this big project on its final day.
Assessing Student Understanding:
For this lesson, I will simply provide a formative assessment for the students. I will rotate around the room and check students’ Final Reports for completeness, accuracy, and check to see if they show an understanding of the lesson concepts.
Rationale for this Lesson:
This lesson is a required last step of this online project that we’ve been engaging in throughout this unit.
The importance of it is to tie together all the previous lessons and provide a finished Final Report as a whole class (a team) to the project site.
I decided to place the students in groups to stimulate students’ interest and confidence for this task. By working together, they can support each other’s ideas.
I also incorporated literacy and technology into this lesson. By having to produce a legitimate report together, students will need to articulate what they know to the fellow group members. Therefore, this kind of setting will sharpen students’ communication skills as well as enhances their cognitive skills. They will need to collaborate to type up a sensible and readable report together.
Class: Life Science
Unit: Environment- Pond Water Testing Project
Topic: Drawing Conclusions & Class Discussion
Lesson Overview:
In this final lesson of the unit, we will be tying all of the previous lessons together. After all the participating classes have submitted their findings to the Project Data area, the students will read the submissions, draw conclusions, and prepare and submit one short Final Report explaining what they have learned from the project. This report will not be long; it’ll be about two paragraphs.
I (the teacher) will also be sending one final report from the whole class to
the project Discussion Area at the completion of this project. Also, Selected Final Reports will be posted in the Student Gallery. We will then have a final class discussion about the unit.
Learning Performances:
After completing this lesson, students will:
Standards Addressed:
National Science Education Standards:
- As a result of the activities, all students should develop an
understanding about scientific inquiry.- As a result of the activities, all students should develop an
understanding of population and ecosystems.Rhode Island State Subheadings for Unifying Themes of Science (concepts to be addressed):
Materials Needed:
Time Required:
One 45-minute class period
INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE
Introducing the Lesson:
To begin the lesson, I will remind the students that all the lessons in this unit have been building on each other and that we have finally arrived to our last lesson of the unit. I will then ask what prior knowledge they have about writing Final Reports. At this point, I will expect many of them raise their hands and say something about having written lab reports before for science class. I will also anticipate someone saying something about writing essays and writing book reports. We will then have a quick discussion on Report writing. To visit students’ prior knowledge, we will review the format for report writing.
Instructional Activities:
We will begin the class by checking the Project Data on the project’s website. This way we can compare the types of macroinvertebrates found by the different schools from around the world.
We will then restate our hypothesis. We will have a whole class discussion centering on whether or not the data collected and macroinvertebrates found by the other schools posted in the Project Data section supported or did not support their hypothesis.
I will then break the students into small working groups (3-4 students per group) and ask them to begin writing their final reports. They may choose to do that individually or one report per group. We will review the following main components that should be included in our report:
- Introductory Paragraph
➢ Name and location of our school as well as the grade and subject area. It will also include a description of where we conducted the water sampling tests (students will include all the information that they wrote from the General Observations).- Main Body
➢ Name, location, and a description of where we conducted the water sampling tests (students will also include all the information they wrote for the General Observations).➢ Water sampling tests that we conducted
➢ Our original hypothesis
- Conclusions
➢ Did our findings prove or disprove our hypothesis? List the reasons.➢ How did the types of organisms we found compare with those found by others?
➢ What conclusions did we draw?
➢ How did the new information change your thinking?
- Additional questions to consider
➢ What was something new that you learned?➢ What would you do differently next time?
Finally, as a whole class, we will submit our Final Report to the Final Reports conference area of the Discussion Area.
Concluding the Lesson:
To conclude the lesson, I will ask all the students to gather around and we will have a casual class discussion of this whole project. Students will be encouraged to offer their honest opinions about this unit. I will be very supportive of everyone’s opinions and thoughts on this project. My goal for leading this kind of discussion is to give every student an opportunity to express his or her likes and dislikes about this big project on its final day.
Assessing Student Understanding:
For this lesson, I will simply provide a formative assessment for the students. I will rotate around the room and check students’ Final Reports for completeness, accuracy, and check to see if they show an understanding of the lesson concepts.
Rationale for this Lesson:
This lesson is a required last step of this online project that we’ve been engaging in throughout this unit.
The importance of it is to tie together all the previous lessons and provide a finished Final Report as a whole class (a team) to the project site.
I decided to place the students in groups to stimulate students’ interest and confidence for this task. By working together, they can support each other’s ideas.
I also incorporated literacy and technology into this lesson. By having to produce a legitimate report together, students will need to articulate what they know to the fellow group members. Therefore, this kind of setting will sharpen students’ communication skills as well as enhances their cognitive skills. They will need to collaborate to type up a sensible and readable report together.
Sources for lesson:
http://www.k12science.org
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